Past The Point Of No Return
by Aquaria Identity 07
Summary: Shinnok's invasion of Earthrealm claimed many lives. Even in its aftermath, four of the realm's young warriors - who were instrumental in its victory - had fallen, albeit too soon. But in the Netherrealm, their lives have just begun ... Revenant!Kombat Kids. Rated T for now.
1. We All Fall Down

**Past The Point Of No Return  
**

 **Summary** : Shinnok's invasion of Earthrealm claimed many lives. Even in its aftermath, four of the realm's young warriors - who were instrumental in its victory - had fallen, albeit too soon. But in the Netherrealm, their lives have just begun ... Revenant!Kombat Kids. Rated T for now.

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Mortal Kombat X or any of its characters; all of this belongs to Ed Boon, John Tobias and Netherrealm Studios. I only own the plot.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: We All Fall Down  
**

It is the heart, the mind, the soul and strength that keeps the body going.

With every beat that sends a wave through each arterial and venal route in hopes of reciprocation, with the constant turn of multiple cogs and wheels that lie within the psyche, with each spark that the fire-like spirit unstoppably fans, and with the force that drives the delivery of actions and words, the body's purpose – to contain the self who happens to inhabit it and has control over the above aspects – seems aptly fulfilled.

But surely there is more to the body – this _vessel_ – that walks the earth? Rather, it is not _just_ a body. With its host's need to give and receive affection, their desire to create ties with others on a mental and physical level, their hope to create deep and meaningful connections, and the natural way in which they are able to exude a sense of capability …

… it is not just a body, but a _some_ body.

We are all somebodies, regardless of the deeds, or perhaps lack thereof, we have carried out in our lifetimes.

But that is the thing one has to consider: once you take away the heart, the mind, the soul and strength, the body has no purpose.

Then, the self has no purpose.

Certainly not in the realm of the living, where one's lifetime is as fleeting as a passing second. The self is released to goodness knows where.

 _The heart, the mind, the soul and strength were gone too soon …_

* * *

She felt like she was floating in a pool of fire.

A scream banged at her clenched teeth, desperate to escape as the lava-hot pain coursed throughout her body. Instead, a whimper was all that managed to come out of her mouth as she tried to suppress the hurting sensation. Her eyes were shut tight, the edges of which were burning with the beginnings of tears. Her skin prickled as if it were being stabbed with hot needles by the hundreds of dozens.

And dearest Elder Gods, it hurt.

So.

Damn.

 _Bad_ _ly_.

 _Mom …? Dad …?_

In her closed vision, faint images of two familiar faces appeared. One was that of a woman who bore a strong physical resemblance to her. The other was of a man from whom she had inherited spirited demeanour and of which she was extremely proud.

And yet, despite the blurriness of their visages, she could clearly see their looks of horror – of … _grief_? – as they looked back at her, their mouths moving to form words that she could not hear –

 _A_ _UUGH_ _!_

Another wave of searing pain washed over her prostrate frame. It surged towards her chest, consuming her heart and charging it with the force of an electric shock.

 _Unrelenting. Uncontrolled. **Unbearable**._

This time, she allowed herself to scream.

 _Mom! … Dad! …_

The two faces were unreachable …

 _Help me!_

… and faded away as soon as they had appeared. There was nothing to look at but a void of intense black.

The tears streamed down her cheeks – they were hot like flames, but not as hot as the throbbing fire that burned beneath her chest.

 _Help me …_

 _She shouldn't be in pain … how_ could _she when she was supposed to be …_

 _ **Please** help me …_

 _Be …_ d … e … a … d _…?_

"HELP ME!"

All of a sudden, she began to choke violently. It was if she had inhaled in a great deal of water, though it did not douse the fire within her body. For the life of her, she could not breathe.

 _No air … suffocation …_

 _I'm **drowning** …_

Her arms and legs had begun to flail violently. She arched her back, her lungs dying for oxygen. The throbbing in her chest intensified by a ten-fold. Her arteries and veins seemed almost fit to burst. Pure and utter panic overcame her senses, increasing her discomfort to the point that she wanted to pass out.

 _But she could not._

 _Her body would not let her._

Her head lolled back helplessly. She could do nothing but choke on her tears in this seemingly endless, pain-ridden purgatory. For goodness knows how long, she could not tell –

 _Oooww!_

Suddenly, she felt something grab hold of her forearms, squeezing the bones beneath. Sharp implements ( _nails?_ ) dug into her skin, threatening to tear through. Despite her weak efforts to pull away, they held on, the nails digging in ever further, thus stilling her thrashing movements. The discomfort from the grip caused her to scream, only for her to end up choking as scalding hot liquid ran down her throat.

 _L_ _ET ME GO! GET ME OUT OF HERE! MOM! DAD!_

"HELP ME!"

Before she knew it, she felt herself being pulled upwardly – the movement was rough, and her arm sockets near well suffered for it. Her body reacted as one could imagine, twisting with resistance, but the heat within her heart erupted at that moment, sending out agony-soaked waves that paralysed her actions almost instantly. Her eyes shut once more, _it's so damn sore, oh God help me_ …

Another shriek was on the tip of her tongue, and she opened her mouth to let it out …

" _Hghhhg!_ "

… when oxygen suddenly entered her frame. Every fibre of her being immediately cried out in relief, but even her body, starved for so long without the precious element, could not deal with taking all of it in. Gasping, and coughing out the liquid that had lingered at the back of her throat, she nearly fell backwards in a sputtering heap, but the hold on her arms kept her upright ( _wait, am I_ standing _?_ ). Thankfully, the heat within her began to cool, and straight away the skin above her waist became cold; the rest of her seemed to be immersed in something warm.

 _W-What? Cold? Warm? But then, does that mean I'm na –_

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she felt herself pulled completely out of the warmth. Voices echoed around her as her bare knees hit, and were unceremoniously dragged along, the hard ground, but they were discernible; God knew that her senses were all over the place. She tried to open her eyes, but the mysterious resin that she had been wallowing in had sealed them shut.

Still trying to catch her breath, she tried again to pull back her arms, but in return a voice sounded in her left ear:

"Don't struggle, _dívka_ , lest you desire to be struck."

It was a harsh tone, an unearthly, resonant hiss laced with an unidentifiable accent.

"Who … are … you?" she rasped, her eyelashes beginning to untangle themselves; as she looked up at her captors through her unclear vision, she could make out dark shapes of humanly figures, albeit with a vague yellow glow hanging about them.

"Who … are –?" she rasped again, but her inquiry was stopped short as another unnatural voice barked in her other ear, "Speak when you are expected to, and not before. Let us hope you are not like your father in the latter regard."

She would have protested, but her throat was still quite raw. Her heart beat like a pulsating ball of fire. Her knees, her legs and even her midriff were suffering something fierce as she was being dragged by … whoever or _whatever_ the hell these characters were.

 _Where in the hell am I?_

She would get an answer to that question soon – in a few more minutes, to be precise.

Suddenly, they stopped in their steps ( _thank the Elder Gods, otherwise I would've had to buy out the mall for all their skin lotions_ ). Pulling her up so that she was balancing on her knees, the one pinned her arms behind her back, while the other – who owned the second voice – rumbled:

"Emperor. The process is complete. She is ours."

" _Ours"? The heck …?_

A hissy "Ugh!" issued forth from her mouth as the sharp-nailed hand grabbed hold of her hair, pulling her head back, forcing her to look ahead – at what, she could not fathom because of the damned stickiness in her orbs. But her keen ears picked up the slow yet authoritative _tramp-tramp!_ of boots making their way towards her. It stopped right before her, and she could make out a lean, muscular figure wearing armoured apparel and enveloped in a yellowish haze akin to the light of a flame, beholding her with a canted head and luminescent eyes.

 _Who is he, the poor man's version of Hercules or something?_

 _But the one guy called him "Emperor"_ …

"Even in your current state, you have your mother's strong bearing," the figure intoned, cupping her chin with tepid fingers, much to her obvious chagrin; sensing her irritation, he chuckled and continued, "And yet you also have your father's attitude. I've no doubt that you have his tongue."

Before she could retort to that, she flinched as those fingers glided over her cheeks towards her eyes. It was like being touched by a doddery, doting (and no doubt deadly) old aunt. She cringed inwardly as those thumbs pressed against her shut-tight eyelids, rubbing them _one-two-three_ times over.

"But here, Miss Cage" he murmured, withdrawing his fingers and flicking off the glutinous substance, "you have no ties to them, nor to that godforsaken realm you once called home. You were reborn here, a single entity in itself but with a difference …"

When Cassie Cage opened her eyes to find the one and only Liu Kang standing before her, he saw that the formerly baby-blue orbs were now a fiery, golden colour, much like that of himself and of his compatriots Kung Lao and Smoke (or Enenra, as he titled himself) who held her by the hair and the arms, respectively. Within those ardent globes swirled a mixture of confusion, fear and – _ah, how delicious_ – sudden realisation.

"I was … I'm a …" whispered Cassie, her glowing veins pulsating wildly along her parchment-grey skin as her newly-revived heart beat at a rapid pace.

Liu Kang nodded.

"Yes, Cassandra, you are now a revenant," he said. "You fell soon after your battle with Lord Shinnok. Your soul had somehow passed into this dimension, and we had no qualms about claiming it."

"No," she said, ignoring the pressure as Lao pulled back on her hair. Her voice had a reverberant quality about it. "There's no way I could have ended up here. Earthrealm is –"

"The Netherrealm is your home now," Liu Kang interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. "A preferable alternative to that other place. No, the Thunder God can have Earthrealm, for all I care. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add to my ranks."

He paused. "Whether it was the sorcery of Quan Chi or your contact with Lord Shinnok, the explanation behind your soul's arrival has yet to uncover itself. But, given that we managed to resurrect you, you are tied to no one _but_ me."

He expected her to protest at that, offer a loud exclamation or something of that ilk. Instead, the former Shaolin monk watched as the girl's face crumpled up in horror. Beads of tears formed at the edges of her burning eyes.

"So I _really_ died," she choked in an affected echo, anguish cruelly consuming her. "Mom and Dad … Jacqui, Jin and Takeda … I'll never see them again."

She held back a sob. It nearly escaped when Liu Kang cupped her chin again.

"That holds true for your parents, but as for your friends …"

He forced Cassie to look at him, watching her undead eyes widen in horror as he proclaimed:

"They were the first to die. _You_ , Cassandra, were the last to fall. Fitting, since it is always the heart that is the last thing to go when one perishes."

"No, no," she whimpered in response, shaking her head and her tears loose. "This isn't … they _can't_ be –"

"But they _are_ ," Liu Kang emphasised before saying, with a cruel smile twisting his lips, "Jacqueline Briggs … Takahashi Takeda … even the tainted Kung Jin … they're waiting for you right now."

* * *

 **A/N** : Gosh, this was hard to write, and not only because I killed off the Kombat Kids (forgiveth me!). All the revenants will be making an appearance in the story, but they'll probably come in about two or three chapters time, but we'll see how we go. :) Other appearances by Sonya, Johnny, Kotal Kahn and his crew and everyone else will happen. But first we have to find out how CC, Jacqui, Jin and Takeda died (poor things). I also need to update _Stained Glass_ , it's taking me forever to finish the second chappie.

Reviews are welcome!

*~AI07~* :)


	2. Until We Meet Again

**Past The Point Of No Return**

 **Chapter 2: Until We Meet Again**

 _When the body begins to expire, the soul feels turmoil as the strength begins to leave …_

* * *

Grunts. Short bursts of breath. The shuffle of steps and a groan as the man sat down on the wooden bench, his hand pressed to his stomach.

"That moonlight walk … can it wait?" Takahashi Takeda puffed, feeling the blood seeping through his gloved fingers and running down the lower half of his armour.

 _The princess sure did a number on me and Jacqui … those knives could put Master Hanzo's swords to shame …_

The bench creaked as a dark-skinned woman in military fatigues sat down beside him, clutching at the bloodied spot above her right breast. She shook her head.

"No walks," panted Jacqui Briggs. "Poolside …"

Here, she looked at the Shirai Ryu warrior with a small smile, her smoky-quartz brown eyes glittering dimly. "Umbrella drinks," she added in a soft tone.

Takeda "heh"-ed at that, grimacing at the sudden spike of pain that erupted in his abdomen, spreading to his limbs and to his head. "Deal."

With all the strength he could muster, he reached out to place his hand atop her own, which rested on her right knee. The armoured fingers stilled beneath his before they relaxed. With a weak smile playing on his lips, Takeda turned his head to the side to meet the upturned face of Jacqui.

 _Wow. She's beautiful._

Indeed, the specialist's face beheld a glow that rivalled the golden light in the sky above them – or maybe her velvety skin caught the rays, who could say, but regardless, she looked beautiful all the same. Her eyes still glittered faintly and her lips were perked up, all out of bemusement. Then, her orbs softened even more and her lips curled into a smile (his own widened in kind) before she leaned in, resting her head atop of his shoulder.

Sighing, Takeda tilted his aching head so that it rested against Jacqui's. In response, she placed her free, gauntlet-covered hand on his arm, her touch firm yet her naked palm's warmth penetrating through his protective covering, temporarily soothing the painful sensation. She closed her eyes, that smile still lingering.

"Hmmm …" she hummed. "I could stay like this forever."

Takeda did not have the energy to chuckle. With yet another sigh, the Shirai Ryu warrior closed his eyes, gently squeezing the woman's hand. "What happened to the poolside idea?"

Jacqui did not answer right away. After several seconds, the specialist answered in an almost distant voice ( _is it just me or her?_ ):

"Call it cheesy, but … as long as I've got _you_ with me … any place is a friggin' paradise."

 _Distant … and slow … me or her …?_

The pain in his body did not once relent.

But his soul stirred when he summoned enough force to reply:

"I'm with you on that one, Jacqui."

And his soul stirred once again, albeit in an uncomfortable manner this time around, as his breath evolved into wheezes. The faint taste of copper and bile made itself present on his tongue. Swallowing did no good, for the taste seemed to resurge from the back of his throat. The acidity that seemed to rise upwards from his stomach made his wheezes all the more unbearable.

And his soul stirred something fierce as he felt pressure against his side. Takeda opened his eyes and was alarmed to see Jacqui practically falling against him. Her hand was slipping off his arm, pulled down by the weight of her gauntlet. Her eyes were still closed, but the smile had become a frown.

"Jacqui?" murmured Takeda, his eyebrows knitting together. "Are you okay?"

The woman did not reply.

"Jacqui? Say something. You're freaking me out."

Nothing, except the soft slide of fingers as her hand slipped off his arm. The other hand felt still beneath his touch.

 _Something's wrong …_

"Jacqui, _please_ say something," Takeda wheezed, reaching out with his other hand to tip Jacqui's chin upwards. He felt his hazy eyes water – not only out of pain, but also out of fear – as he searched her darkened face for a movement, a sign of life, _anything_. "You're stronger than this. Just answer me …"

A faint puff of breath passed Jacqui's lips and that was all. The bleeding from the wound had begun to slow, and soon it stopped altogether.

The Shirai Ryu warrior's soul took a nasty knock.

 _No … Jacqui …?_

Encircling his arms around her, pulling him towards his aching chest, Takeda felt the tears falling from his foggy orbs.

"Jacqui," he moaned, pressing his lips against her cold forehead. "Jacqui …"

Her name was all he could say, could _breathe_. As he sat there, holding the specialist for dear life as the acidity grew stronger, the pain more worse and his eyes foggier, he held onto her name as if it were his lifeline. Even when he felt his own limbs grow stiff, his soul begging to be released from the flames of hurt that engulfed his mortal frame, Takeda continued to repeat Jacqui's name.

 _Until the very end._

When the Special Forces soldiers arrived at the Sky Temple, it appeared to them that Takahashi Takeda and Jacqueline Briggs were sharing an intimate moment. The young man was holding the women in a loving embrace, both looking peaceful in the glow of the dawn-lit sky.

* * *

 _Once they have left, the mind – with nothing to mind over, so to speak – follows after …_

* * *

His head felt heavy. His veins pumped with unmistakable, burning discomfort. He hissed as he felt the Thunder God's hand touching the gaping bloody hole in his chest.

"Kung Jin," Raiden groaned as he looked up at the young man, his luminescent blue orbs swirling with fatigue and distress. "You are wounded …"

"I wouldn't have guessed," the Shaolin monk answered without malice, groaning to himself as those fingers probed the wound. "It's – _ugh_ – nothing compared to what you've been through. D'Vorah got me with one of her pincers, but Cage squashed Mama Long-legs for good."

Jin bowed his head slightly, the weight in his head pushing down hard which was enough to make him feel dizzy. He gritted his teeth to prevent a curse from escaping.

 _At least D'Vorah didn't do a black widow on me, otherwise I wouldn't_ have _a head._

Raiden frowned. Jin's fingers dug into his wrist with a fierce intensity as he struggled to regain his composure, his breathing becoming strained. "The Jinsei has been cleansed, but it will still take time to reach its full healing powers," he breathed. "Its properties will restore your health."

"I can … I can see a medic," Jin replied slowly. "Bee-stings won't be new … to them."

"But it is more than that," protested the Thunder God weakly. "Kytinn venom."

He paused. "It is deadly."

The bowman chuckled in spite of his obvious pain. "I fought an emperor, got shot at and dealt with a symbiotic side-show … but I still came out alive. Madame Dragonfly sure as hell ain't dragging me down yet."

The sentence was punctuated with a grunt. "Think my family will be a little proud of me, Raiden?"

His voice echoed painfully in his skull, as if someone had thrown a rock into a lake of water. He could feel his grip on the other being's wrist beginning to loosen as the fire throbbed through his veins, his nerves bursting into flames and his skin tingling as it was overcome by a pins-and-needles sensation.

Jin nearly very well nearly missed Raiden's words, but even he had to smile through his suffering when he heard him say:

" _Very_ proud, Jin."

 _In his dulled mind, he could picture them: a man, stern and upright yet with a gracious smile painted upon his face, his eyes aglitter with pride and love, and a woman, her bearing just as strong, her hands clasped together and her dark-brown orbs swelled with teary affection …_

 _Bàba_ … _māma_ …

Raiden watched as the young man bowed his head, his golden-brown eyes averted and his breaths ever so wispy.

" _Xiè xie nǐ_ ," Jin whispered, almost hissing.

 _He wanted to reach out and embrace them both, they were so close. He wanted to be held by them like in the old days when he was small and young … the days when he deemed himself to be worthy of their affections. He was sure that they would alleviate the unforgivable pain that consumed him now._

 _Bàba_ … _māma_ …

" _Táng gē_ … cousin … _soneya."_

"Jin." Raiden's voice was full of alarm when he heard the Shaolin monk whimper. Those eyes suddenly shut tight, his lips curled back to reveal gritted teeth and his breaths were fast and airy. "Jin, the venom …"

 _A man stood before him now in the place of his parents. He bore a strong resemblance to him, save for a slightly thinner face, longer jet-black hair bound in a braid and dark eyes, marked by crows' feet, which peered out at him from underneath a razor-edged black hat._

" _Soneya," he uttered in a dense, disembodied voice._

"Kung Jin?"

Huffing and puffing at a fast rate now, his body bending forward, Jin whimpered again.

"Lao," he muttered under his breath. "I … see him."

" _Soneya," he intoned again. His voice echoed harshly, sending a surge of pain running through the fibres of his brain. "You've hurt me …"_

"Lao, stop." Jin's eyes shut tighter, the weight in his head causing them to water.

" _You've hurt me. You've besmirched our family's name … our honour … my legacy …"_

"No … _no_ … stop."

"Jin," the Thunder God whispered desperately. "What you are seeing is not real. You are hallucinating."

" _Is this what you have become? Is it what you wanted? To be a lesser being?"_

"L-Lao, I … _please_."

"It's a figment of your imagination, Jin. Don't listen to it …"

" _You think surviving this ordeal will serve as an allowance to carry our family's name into the gutter? Do you think that after this day that you will be accepted for what you are?"_

 _The apparition shook his head._

" _Oh, soneya – you may still be alive …"_

Blood, light-red in colour and sticky with a transparent residue, seeped slowly from his chest wound. His exposed, inflamed skin began to take on a horrible discolouration, particularly around his arms, his neck and his hands where his veins and arteries could be seen. He could feel his skull splitting open …

"Lao …"

Jin opened his eyes, droplets rolling down his cheeks.

 _The hatted man's voice was the last thing he heard:_

"… _but you are_ dead to me _."_

The final blow had been struck.

"Jin? JIN!"

Raiden cried out when Kung Jin let go of his wrist. A horrified expression bloomed across his features as he watched the young man collapse to his knees – his golden-brown eyes darkened with emptiness – before his body fell to ground on its left side. The pulsating energy of the Jinsei, running underneath the floor, bathed his body in a blue aura, making it appear as if he were sleeping, if not merely alive.

The Special Forces soldiers who had entered the chamber thought as much when their eyes fell on him, but it was only when they saw Raiden, weeping as he sat against the stone pillar in a most defeated fashion next to his body, that they knew that the Shaolin monk was not asleep.

 _That he would never wake up in this vessel ever again._

* * *

 _With neither the strength to uphold it, the soul to enliven it nor the mind to control it, the heart is the last thing on which the self loses its grip …_

* * *

She did not make it that far.

" _Is he alive?"_

" _Barely. I'll help him. Help your father."_

She had gotten up and turned her head in the opposite direction, where she saw a man standing a few meters away, a gluey orange substance coating his body in violent criss-cross patterns which bound his limbs, restricted his movements and kept him standing in the same spot for goodness knows how long. His head was bent down, his damaged countenance bearing an unreadable expression and his eyes shut tight. Either he was unconscious or in some sort of pain.

 _Dad._

Casting one final glance at the wounded Thunder God, she ran towards the bound man …

 _One step … four steps … seven steps … maybe eleven …_

"UNGH!"

… but Cassie Cage did not make it that far.

Instead, she found herself sprawled out on the chamber floor, her face feeling the sting after its painful impact with the ground. The blue energy beneath her visage provided a soothing warmth and dulled the sudden ache, albeit only slightly.

 _Damn it! How could I trip on my own feet like that?_

 _ **Please** tell me Dad didn't see that._

With a soft groan, Cassie slowly began to prop herself onto her forearms and elbows, but suddenly she felt the strength leaving her limbs, which gave way almost immediately and resulted in her falling face-first to the ground once more.

Instantly, her world went black.

The blonde-haired sergeant opened her eyes for what seemed like only a few seconds after passing out when she felt a firm hand gently shaking her shoulder. She felt incredibly groggy, her eyesight was slightly hazy and her head seemed heavy enough to just about detach itself from her body and fall off; a sound of protest passed her lips as arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the ground and then placing her back down in a sitting position, aggravating her senses beyond belief. All the while, her heart thudded at a laggard, aching pace.

 _Ugh, this is a hundred times worse than a hangover._

"Sergeant Cage?"

 _Oh Elder Gods, no …_

"Cassie? Talk to me, honey."

With yet another groan, Cassie looked up, blinking incessantly to clear her vision, to see the face of an older woman staring back with a look of intense worry. Like the younger female, she had fair, almost pixie-like features, her hair was flaxen-coloured – although it was a shade lighter and braided – and she, too, wore a Special Forces uniform that denoted her higher rank. But in this moment, their respective ranks – sergeant and general – did not matter.

"Hi Mom," Cassie offered weakly, a faint blush on her cheeks.

 _Great, now my_ mom _gets to see_ me _flat_ _on my ass. Right after I saved the world and everything … here's a friggin' fantastic scene for the photo album._

Sonya Blade's face softened out of relief. She wrapped an arm around her (kind of surprised) daughter's shoulders, pulling her into a lop-sided embrace.

"You're gonna be fine, kiddo," she said quietly. "You _and_ your old man."

Sonya made a gesture with her free hand. Following the movement with her still quite blurry vision, Cassie could see her father being assisted by two S-F soldiers out of his gooey gaol. They held what looked like blow torches, but instead of flames the apparatuses emitted jets of transparent fluid which dissolved the adhesive securing the actor's frame upon contact. The excess substance had been removed from his upper body ( _wow, they_ _got that s*** off_ _fast – how long was I passed out for?_ ), allowing him the freedom to move his arms and breathe without pressure among other things. The eponymous tattoo emblazoned across his chest could also be seen. The soldiers had now moved onto his legs, which were practically encased in the stuff.

Nevertheless, Johnny Cage smiled at his daughter, who looked more than uneasy.

"I'll be just fine, Princess," he reassured. "It'll take more than orange slime to keep me down."

He touched one of the gaping openings on his right cheek. "I still have my good looks after all, am I right?"

Cassie snorted at that. "Right, Dad," she answered. "You could make a mint from making your new holes a spelunking attraction."

Johnny sniggered. "It's not everyday you get to touch the one and only Johnny Cage's holes."

He turned to look at Sonya, his smile growing wider. "You should've seen her, Sonya. She wiped the floor with Shinnok – not to mention her epic win over La Cucharacha over there."

Sonya smiled, glancing at a sheepish-looking Cassie.

"I believe it," she replied warmly, squeezing her shoulders.

Johnny beamed down at the younger woman. "Hey Cass, y'hear that? That's Sonya-speak for "I'm proud of you.""

He paused, before adding in an affectionate tone, "And I'm proud of you, too, hun-bun. It's not everyday that your daughter saves the world. Strong, smart, beautiful and witty … and a good heart to match … you, girl, deserve the title of champion."

"Daaaad," the blonde-haired sergeant mumbled, averting her gaze as she felt her face heating up, much to her parents' amusement. A delighted grin graced her fatigued features, though. "That means a lot to me, you guys, thank you. But honestly, I couldn't have done it without the team. Jin, Takeda and Jacqui … they deserve a lot of the credit."

Cassie looked up at Sonya. "How're they doing? Are they okay? They must've been happy to see you guys."

Her words had an instant effect on her mother.

Pursing her lips, her visage losing all traces of amusement, it was Sonya's turn to look away. Her sudden sombre expression took Cassie aback, making her heart race in a strident fashion – it was as if it was beating in her throat.

"Mom?" she rasped. "What's the matter?"

Sonya did not answer.

"Sonya?" Johnny piped up, his voice echoing the concern of their daughter. "You okay, babe?"

Whether the use of "babe" was intentional or an accidental slip of the tongue, one could not say, but either which way, Sonya did not verbally respond, not even deigning to call her ex-husband out on it. No, she merely scrunched up her eyes and bit her bottom lip. Anxiety and tension emanated from her frame in waves upon waves.

 _Why isn't she saying anything?_

Swallowing in a vain attempt to calm her heartbeat, Cassie looked up at Johnny with a deep-set frown. He looked back at her with a similar expression, albeit with his eyebrows furrowed deeply. The soldiers at his feet kept their eyes on their work, although it was plain to see that they were trying their damndest to hide their uneasiness.

"Mom," Cassie murmured, her own malaise rising. "My friends … where are they?"

She felt the arm around her shoulders tightening its hold. "Cass …"

The general's voice shook a little as she uttered her name, and Cassie cringed.

 _The hell? Why is she scaring me like this?_

"Cassie, about your team –"

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Mom." Her rasping voice cut her mother off in the middle of her sentence, much to the older woman's shock. "Where the _hell_ are my friends? Are they hurt or what?"

Sonya flinched at her harsh tone. She looked up at Johnny beseechingly – ten-plus years of marriage endowed the two older adults with the ability to read each other. Whatever passed between them in that moment, Cassie could not catch ( _why the f*** is my eyesight still fuzzy?_ ), but the flabbergasted expression appearing on her father's face was plain enough for her to see.

"Oh man, Sonya," whispered Johnny, shaking his head furiously. His voice was full of apprehension and …. _unhappiness_? "You gotta be effin' kidding me, Sonya, come on!"

His ex-wife silently shook her head in kind.

"Damn it," the actor groaned as he covered his face with his hands, into which he bemoaned further, "Goddamn it all to hell … f****** goddammit …"

"Dad, what's going on?" piped up Cassie, trying to ignore the sudden burst of pain that had erupted in her chest. "Dad, c'mon, you're scaring me."

Almost immediately, Johnny's hands slid off his face. Tears had formed in the corners of his eyes.

"Cassie, I'm sorry," he choked with grief. "I'm so sorry, baby."

To the soldiers at his feet, he suddenly turned his face towards them and practically growled, "Hurry up and get this s*** offa me. I need to be with my ex-wife and my daughter. Get it done, dammit!"

" _Johnny_ , tone it down," Sonya warned, although her own voice carried a quaver. " _Please_. Not in front of Cassie."

Their daughter did not miss the general calling her father by his first name – an improvement given the dynamics of their relationship – but it was still overshadowed by the man's emotional outburst towards her and then the soldiers. She instinctively pressed herself against her mother, akin to a frightened child in want of protection.

Watching this, Johnny's hardened face softened, his tear-filled eyes aglow with a tinge of miserable blue.

"Oh God, Punkin, I didn't mean to scare you like that," he apologised. "I'm sorry – about _everything_ , especially because your team – Cassie? Cassie, are you alright?"

For at this moment Cassie had given a loud cry, enough to stop Johnny in the middle of his sentence and startle him, Sonya and the soldiers. The blonde-haired sergeant buried her face in the crook of her mother's neck, breathing hard. Her chest rose and fell fast.

"Cassie, what's the matter?" Sonya asked worriedly, trying to pull the younger woman off to look at her.

"Stop, not so loud," Cassie whimpered, burying her face deeper. "It hurts."

"Where does it hurt?" Sonya spoke softly. "Your ears? Your head? Honey, where does it hurt?"

"Tell her where it hurts, sweetheart," added Johnny quietly, _urgently_. The soldiers had managed to remove the sludge from his legs at long last. Balancing his hands on their shoulders, the actor took two or three steps forward, grimacing at the pins-and-needles sensation that he felt from the waist down, as he repeated the older woman's words: "Where does it hurt? Tell her, Cassandra – tell _us_."

Cassie shook her head, but her hand, trembling ever so slightly, clutched at her chest.

"Radio the medic again," Sonya ordered the soldiers, "and tell him to get down here ASAP. Evacuation procedure applies."

To the woman in her arms, she whispered in her ear, "Hold on, Cass. You're gonna be okay."

"Mom," Cassie moaned, holding onto Sonya for dear life. It felt like her chest contained a fireball within. "Mom, it hurts …"

 _It hurts everywhere._

"Shh, honey, you're going to be fine, I promise," Sonya crooned, running a soothing hand through the blonde crop and kissing her forehead. "I'll make sure of it. We're going to get you out of here."

Cassie shook her head again, feeling her body beginning to slump backwards. The weight in her head felt too much.

"Not without my friends," she whined pathetically. "I can't leave them. I won't …"

" _We'll_ make sure of that, Punkin," Johnny's voice rang, echoing harshly in her ear; another pair of strong arms enclosed around her and her mother, pulling them into a gentle embrace. "We're getting you all out of this. It's all over now."

 _Yeah, it's – ngh – all over_ , thought Cassie, her closed eyes watering. _I'm gonna walk out of here_ _with Mom and Dad, and the rest of the team._

 _That's if they're still –_

" _AUGH!_ "

The violent exclamation that passed her lips scared herself more than she could possibly say.

Despite the strong hold of both her parents, Cassie still managed to slip from their grasp. Like a scene from out of her father's movies, her backwards fall to the ground all happened so fast yet for her it felt like she was moving so slow. The hind side of her skull collided with the rock-like surface, causing her to gasp. She blinked her blurry eyes incessantly, but the fuzziness refused to relent, her sight starting to dim, her eyelids beginning to contract. Her chest rose sorely.

 _Am I having a heart attack?_

 _It hurts so much …_

She did not register her parents' cries, their voices merely a vociferous buzz in her aching ears. She could only faintly see their faces suddenly appearing over hers, horrified at what they were witnessing. She tried to read their lips, to absorb the assurances that they were surely giving her as she lay there …

She tried …

 _I won this fight fair and square … my friends and I saved the damn planet … there's no way in hell that we're going out like this …_

Cassie Cage closed her crying eyes, exhaling in one last attempt to soothe the fire.

She tried …

 _We're going home … we're going …_

 _Going …_

… but she did not make it that far.

Neither of them did.

 _But as sure as hell on earth, they were going to meet again …_

* * *

 **A/N** : _Bàba_ \- Mandarin Chinese, "Father"; _Māma_ \- Mandarin Chinese, "Mother"; _Xiè xie nǐ_ \- Mandarin Chinese, "Thank you"; _Táng gē_ \- Mandarin Chinese, "Cousin" (from father's side of the family); _S_ _oneya_ \- Punjabi, "Beloved/trusted one", taken from _soniya_ , Punjabi for "My golden one" (since Jin's name means "gold" and all).

Oh lordy, I actually updated this story! XD It took me forever to do, due to laziness, exams and more laziness. I'll possibly be able to update more regularly after Christmas, but we'll see how that goes. _Stained Glass_ Chapter 3 is also due to come out soon, so do watch out for that! :)

A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved/alerted or are just checking out this story, you're absolute stars for liking it thus far, y'all deserve some huggles! :D I hope this chapter was okay - I wasn't completely satisfied with it, but I think once the Kombat Kids get together again and the other revenants are introduced, then it'll be a bit better (I had fun coming up with different names for D'Vorah XD). Again, thank you!

Reviews are welcome, and have a happy and safe holiday!

*~AI07~* :)


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